1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to material cutting apparati and, more particularly, to a material cutting device for cutting materials such as paper, fabric, sponge and rubber using blade-cut dies which includes a base plate on which is movably mounted a carriage having a press roller, the carriage moving on the base plate such that the press roller engages a die cover plate placed over the paper placed on a blade-cut die on the base plate, thereby pressing the cover onto the blade-cut die and cutting a desired design out of the material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is much demand for machines which are capable of cutting shapes and designs, such as letters, numbers, or other such designs, out of various materials such as construction-type papers, fabrics, sponges, rubber and other materials. This demand arises generally from two major markets, the educational market, such as schools and pre-schools, and the craft and hobby market. The uses for such devices in the educational market are obvious, and include the cutting out of large numbers and letters from construction paper for use in classroom decorations to facilitate the teaching of those letters and numbers. The craft market also has similar needs, but expands the uses of a material cutting machine to other types of designs which are used in the making of craft arts and the like.
Various machines are presently used in the market for the cutting of such design and shapes, including units manufactured by Accucut and Ellison. These devices generally fulfill the intended purpose of cutting paper with a blade-cut die, but they each include inherent deficiencies. For example, the Ellison device requires the user to press the paper onto the blade-cut die by means of a long lever which can require substantial force to move the press device downwards. This can present a danger in that the lever, when released, may spring back upward due to the force that is being exerted by the die and paper, which may result in the lever impacting a person or object causing damage thereto. The Accucut device, on the other hand, uses a stationary press roller which, when rotated, causes a blade-cut die movably supported on a tray to travel thereunder. As the die passes under the roller, the paper is pressed down onto the blade-cut die thus cutting the design on the paper. In use, the Accucut device often causes slippage of the blade-cut die under the press roller resulting in corruption of the design being cut out of the material. This renders the cut-out shape unusable resulting in waste of that sheet. Moreover, both the Ellison and Accucut machines are limited in the number of sheets of material which may be cut at the same time, thus causing a user of the machines to have to use the machine several times to cut the amounts of paper that would be needed in a classroom setting or the like. There is therefore a need for a material cutting device which addresses and solves at least some of the problems presented in using the machines presently available in the market.
Briefly, a standard blade-cut die is constructed as having a wooden rectangular base block approximately three-quarters of an inch thick into which are secured a plurality of razor blades extending vertically upwards from the upper surface of the wooden block. The razor blades are arranged to form a design such as a letter, number or other such shape with the cutting edge of each razor blade at the upper edge thereof. Surrounding the razor blades and extending slightly (one-sixteenth inch) above the cutting surface of each razor blade is a block of foam rubber which prevents a user of the blade-cut die from accidentally cutting him or herself when handling the blade-cut die. The foam rubber deforms downwards when pressure is applied thereto, thus exposing the cutting surface of the razor blades and cutting the appropriate design from the material placed onto the blade-cut die. Of course, other designs of dies are currently available but the present description applies to the most common type of blade-cut die used in the educational and craft fields.
There are numerous other types of pressing and cutting devices which are found in the prior art. These include such devices as Bartesaghi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,4057, Treff, U.S. Pat. No. 3,555,949, and Turner, U.S. Pat. No. 2,446,201. None of these devices, however, disclose a device for quickly and efficiently cutting multiple sheets of material such as paper into shapes and designs as designated by a blade-cut die.
It is vitally important that any material cutting device designed for use in the educational or craft markets be designed in such a way as to prevent, as much as possible, accidental injury arising from use of the device. Many of the die cutting presses currently available on the market include dangerous "pinch-points" which are places on the machine into which a finger or other body part could be drawn and damaged. There is therefore a further need for a paper cutting device which includes heightened safety measures to prevent incidental injuries from the use of the device.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved paper cutting device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a paper cutting device including a base plate for supporting a blade-cut die thereon, a carriage having a press roller, the carriage moveably mounted on the base plate, a drive device for propelling the carriage along the base plate and a die cover device such as a urethane sheet which covers the paper placed on the blade-cut die so that the press roller and carriage may move over the cover thus pressing the paper onto the blade-cut die and cutting the appropriate design out of the paper.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a paper cutting device which includes numerous safety measures to prevent the digits of a user from being drawn into "pinch-points" which could cause damage to those digits.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a paper cutting device which includes a rack and gear system for precisely guiding the carriage along the base plate thereby insuring consistently excellent results in the cutting of materials by the machine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a paper cutting method which provides a machine as that described above, placing the material to be cut onto the upper surface of the blade-cut die positioned on the base plate, covering the material to be cut with the die cover, and moving the carriage and press roller over the die cover, thereby pressing the die cover down onto the paper and blade-cut die. The blades of the blade-cut die cut into and through the paper, thereby cutting out the desired design from the material being cut.
Finally, an objection of the present invention is to provide a paper cutting device which is relatively simple to manufacture and is safe, efficient, and durable in use.